Golden Flames
by Sagesse Reine
Summary: Story begins at the end of the Blue Spirit. They were friends since they were young and always cared deeply for each other. Will Princess Zelda's and Prince Zuko's love be reborn?
1. Chapter 1

First of all I do not own any part of Avatar: The Last Airbender and I do not own anything that has to do with the Legend of Zelda or Princess Zelda.

Secondly this is my first fan fic ever. So please don't kill me with flames. You can give constructive criticism but please go easy.

I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

Aang and Princess Zelda sat together silently watching the unconscious Prince Zuko lie on a bed of leaves they made together. They were both lost in thought over the events that had just taken place.

A mysterious savior in a blue mask came to Aang and Zelda's rescue. Later they were shocked to find that it was none other than Prince Zuko.

FLASHBACK

_The masked savior was just hit by an arrow shot by a YuuYan Archer. Zelda and Aang jumped as their savior fell to the ground._

_Aang cautiously removed his mask and both Zelda and him gasped when they saw who it was: Prince Zuko. So many questions filled their minds in such a short moment but the first to occupy their mind was…Why?_

_Aang turned to leave, but stopped suddenly. _

"_We can't just leave him Aang, Zhao and Zuko are enemies. If Zhao found out that Zuko rescued us he'd kill him," said Zelda as she heaved Zuko on her back with a grunt. But it was difficult for her because Zuko was much bigger than her even though she was but a year younger. So she just grabbed his arms and wrapped them around her neck and dragged him._

_Aang walked over to Princess Zelda to help her, "No, Aang I've got him. You shouldn't carry him because you have to be able to defend us if someone attacks again, Zhao's soldiers will surely search the area for us." _

_Aang nodded and began jogging with Zelda behind him, Zelda being surprisingly strong to be able to keep up with Aang with Zuko on her back._

_After awhile of jogging they started walking as Zelda was beginning to pant. Suddenly she tripped and landed face first into mud. _

_She jumped up quickly using her magic to get the mud off of her face and body. _

"_That's it, I'm sick of this," she said. She propped Zuko up against a tree and said to Aang, "Come over here Aang, I need you to do something for me. Make sure I don't fall when my soul leaves my body."_

_Aang stood there and stared for a while and finally said, "What do you mean?"_

"_I am going to use my magic to possess Prince Zuko. It will be much easier for me to carry my body using his body instead of vice versa," she said._

_Aang came close to Zelda as she sat cross-legged on the ground with her eyes closed, then suddenly she began to levitate. She opened her eyes and her pupils were not visible, her eyes were glowing golden as she meditated and chanted in a foreign language. Suddenly a golden object rose from her body. It took the shape of a swan and shined very brightly, lighting up the forest around them. Aang figured that this was her soul and once Zelda's soul left her, her body fell and Aang was there to catch her just like he was supposed to._

_The golden swan flew towards Zuko's body and entered it. Zuko began to move, but when he opened his eyes they were not their normal golden color, they were the bright blue eyes of Princess Zelda. _

"_Alright Aang I am in Zuko's body. We can continue now," said Princess Zelda from Zuko's body. _

_Aang was a little shocked by this because when he expected to hear the sharp, demanding voice of Prince Zuko, he heard the calm, beautiful voice of Zelda._

_The possessed Zuko scooped up Zelda's body into his arms and they continued to walk._

_A little later on Aang found a clearing where they could stay the night. Zelda in Zuko's body used his firebending to start a small fire just enough to keep warm for the night._

_Possesed Zuko broke the silence and said, "Aang, I believe that Zuko has the risk of dying if some precautionary actions aren't taken."_

"_What are we going to do?" asked Aang._

"_I am going to leave some of my spirit energy in Zuko's body."_

"_What is spirit energy?"_

"_Spirit energy is what keeps us alive and well. If anyone ever ran out of spirit energy they would die. As long as there is a small amount of it left it can always come back. Zuko's spirit energy is dangerously low. I can feel it. He is wavering on the boundary of life and death. I am going to leave half of my energy in him just to be sure he lives."_

"_Why are you leaving him with so much energy, won't that hurt you?"_

"_It will weaken and exhaust me, but I want to be sure he lives."_

"_Why do you care for him so much?"_

"_Well, we were best friends when we were young."_

"_What!"_

"_Yes, my father the King of Hyrule made usual visits to the Fire Nation, just to keep peace between our lands. He often took me on his visits since I will be the future ruler of Hyrule and would have to learn to be a diplomat between different lands. That is where I met Prince Zuko. Back then he was so full of life and was a kind boy. We were both young when we met. I believe I was eight and he was nine, but he always had been much bigger than I. We did so many things together. Sometimes some of the Fire Nation boys would pick on me because I was of a different land and they were very prejudice. Zuko would always defend me. I was an only child. He was like the big brother that I never had. Guiding me, helping me, protecting me. Even, dare I say it, loving me. We cared deeply for each other. _

_Then on one of our visits I had to witness something that changed me forever. I had heard that he spoke out in his father's war chamber. And the reason he spoke out was honorable. He spoke out because his father was willing to risk a new division of soldiers. His father knew they'd be defeated. They were just bait. Zuko spoke out to the general who had suggested it, but he was in his father's chamber so he disrespected his father. Zuko was to fight in an Agni Kai against, from what he knew, the general he spoke out against, but when he got up to fight he turned and saw his father instead of the general. I was there, I witnessed the whole thing, Zuko's father was merciless even when his son begged his forgiveness. I watched as tears streamed down the face that I thought to be so strong. That day was the first day in my life that I had ever cried. It was the most painful thing I had ever witnessed. Zuko, my best friend, was nearly killed that day as I, being only 12 years old watched. I never really liked Zuko's father to begin with, he never paid any attention to me and if he did he just glared and I always sensed his cold heart without warmth or love. But after that, I hated that man with a passion. He destroyed my best friend's heart that day, and for that I will never forgive him or forget it."_

"_Wow, I never knew any of that," said Aang still absorbing the mass amount of information he just received._

"_Zuko would be so angry if he knew I told you that," said the still possessed Zuko smiling a little.._

"_I won't tell him that you told."_

"_Thanks. Well, I think it is time that I leave his body for now."_

_Zelda again sat in her meditating position and levitated off the ground once more. The golden swan jumped out of Zuko's body with a dimmer glow than last time, since she left half of her spirit energy in his body. It returned to Zelda. I awaked looking up at Aang, but then everything went dark again. I was so exhausted._

_When I awoke I saw Zuko lying in a bed of leaves and found that I myself had a bed of leaves. When I awoke I saw Aang sitting at the bottom of a tree. He looked as though he was deep in thought. _

_I decided that I would attempt to stand up, but my legs were so weak. I didn't know that leaving half of my spirit energy would make me this weak. Aang rushed over to help. _

"_Thanks."_

_I attempted to summon a staff to help me walk, but my magic just flickered in the air for a second then died. I tried again and it suddenly appeared in a flash of sparkle. It was taller than I am and golden. It had a copy of the Triforce, a divine object in Hyrule, perched on top of it. Then I sat again deciding I should save my energy. Aang did the same as we waited for Zuko to awake._

END FLASHBACK

Suddenly Zuko stirred on his bed of leaves. Aang and Zelda both jumped but didn't move. Zuko opened his unscarred eye and looked over at Aang and then to Zelda.

Aang caught his attention when he started to talk and said, "I had a friend in the Fire Nation 100 years ago. We would always get out of trouble like that together and then laugh about it. Do you think we could have been friends?"

The young boy's eyes began to shine with that innocent glimmer.

But then suddenly Zuko shot a blast of fire at him. Aang jumped up and dodged it and looked over to Zelda who said, "Aang get the frogs again and go back to Katara and Sokka. I will be fine."

"But…"

"Just go Aang. Katara and Sokka need to get well…go."

Aang looked at Zelda then jumped up to the trees toward the cave Katara and Sokka were in.


	2. Chapter 2

Zuko turned around to see Zelda sitting against a tree with a staff. She looked exhausted. He had never seen her like this. Normally she was so strong, but there she sat looking so weak. There were dark circles under her eyes and the normally brilliant blue seemed to have faded from exhaustion. Even with the exhaustion, he noticed that she still looked beautiful. She had that shining golden hair that went down to the middle of her back. Her skin was pale and her eyelashes were long. She was petite and always wore her royal dress. Her dress was pink and had a long piece of fabric attached to a golden belt that bore symbols of Hyrule. She also wore many other items of the royal treasures including a golden headband high on her forehead that had a red stone in the middle. Zelda also wore golden shoulder plates. She always wore this outfit all of the time so that she is easily identified as Princess of Hyrule , Sage of Time, and bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom.

He decided to see what she would do if he attacked with a fire ball. She attempted to put up a shield, but it was too weak the fire ball grazed her left arm and she winced in pain, but did not fall to the ground or cry. She would not show pain. She never had. Zuko never saw Princess Zelda cry other than at the Agni Kai.

"What is the matter with you?" Zuko questioned sharply.

Zelda grabbed her staff and struggled to get up having to use much of her strength just to do that simple task, but eventually was able to rise to her feet.

"I used up half of my spirit energy saving your life."

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night your spirit energy was at a dangerously low level, you were on the border line between life and death. I couldn't just let you die."

"Why? Isn't your mission to protect the Avatar? It would be easier without me wouldn't it?" he asked roughly staring in the eyes of Princess Zelda.

"I couldn't just let my best friend die."

"You still consider us best friends? That was years ago and now we are after separate goals. You are in the way of one of my goals: capturing the Avatar."

"Do you not know of one of my other titles Prince Zuko? I am also Empress of Light."

"So what does that mean?" Zuko demanded impatiently.

"It means that it is my duty to protect the hope and light in the worlds most in need of it. This world is definitely in need of it. That hope and light in this world is the Avatar. The world needs him," Zelda replied coolly.

"You and the Avatar have become friends it seems," Zuko said ignoring her statement about the world needing the Avatar, "Are you two good friends?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that," Zelda said still leaning on her staff.

"Well then, maybe I can make the Avatar come to me."

"And how might you accomplish that?"

"By taking you hostage," he replied with a smirk. He began to walk toward Zelda.

Zelda knew she was too weak to fight which she normally would have done. So instead she started moving away still having her staff in hand. But Zuko jumped up to her quickly and she responded by hitting him with her staff, which gave her enough time to give her a head start. She jogged as fast as she could, trying to escape, but she was just too exhausted. Zuko had caught up with her instantly and had her by the wrist. Zelda gave attempts to pull away, but his physical strength was too great for her. He easily had caught her.

"Get off of me, Zuko," Zelda hissed.

"That's Prince Zuko to you, Zelda."

"Then that's Princess Zelda to you," she replied smartly with a smirk.

He was getting annoyed by her insolence and glared down at her, but let it pass. He slung her over his shoulder and began to walk back to his ship. She was quiet for a while but then began beating on his back and kicking. He sighed and rolled his eyes completely unaffected by her feeble attempts. Then she just stopped, too tired to continue.

Awhile later, she was completely silent and Zuko began to wonder if she had fallen asleep, which she had.


	3. Chapter 3

Aang had returned with the frogs for Katara and Sokka. After which he sat there and began to think about what had just happened with Prince Zuko. He still wondered if they could have been friends.

Later, Katara and Sokka were well again.

"Aang what took you so long?" Katara asked.

"Yeah you did take a long time," Sokka said. "Where's Zelda?"

Aang told them the whole story about how he and Zelda were captured by the YuuYan Archers and taken back to Zhao's fortress and how they were rescued by whom they later found out was Prince Zuko. He also told how Zelda had possessed Zuko and left him with much of her spirit energy. Aang continued with the story and told how Zelda had ordered him to go back to the cave to heal Katara and Sokka. He told them how weak she was and then they began to worry, it was getting later and she still had not returned.

"Do you think Prince Zuko took her hostage?" Katara asked.

"Probably, she was very weak at the time. I had to help her just to stand up. Zuko probably took advantage of her weakness," Aang told the two. "I would've taken her with me, but she told me to go."

"Yeah that definitely sounds like something that jerk would do," Sokka commented, "Take advantage of someone who was weakened by saving his life."

"I hope she's okay," Aang stated with a worried expression on his face.

"I am sure she will be fine. Zelda is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She's a great fighter and can use her magic to defend herself. Once she regains her strength she could easily escape," Katara said trying to comfort Aang.

"Yeah, but when I was with her she had trouble using her magic. She wanted to get her staff to appear to help her walk, the first time it didn't work and the second time it seemed like she had to put a lot of effort into it to make it appear."

"That doesn't sound good. Well her energy has to come back, right? Once it does come back, she'll be fine. Zelda's wise too, she can take care of herself until her energy comes back."

"I feel bad for just leaving her there though"

"Aang, it's okay. She wanted you to leave her. Her duty is to protect you, she was just doing her job."

Aang nodded, comforted a little, but still feeling guilty for leaving her behind.

Prince Zuko was still walking with Zelda over his shoulder. She had been silent the whole time, but he knew she was awake because she shifted sometimes trying to make herself more comfortable.

"So you've been searching for the Avatar for the past three years?" Zelda said wanting to break the silence.

"…..yes." Zuko responded.

"And you've been searching for him to restore your honor correct?"

"…yes…"

"I guess I'd feel the same way you do if I was in your position."

"You would?"

"Yes, except I wouldn't want to go back because of my father or for myself. I would go back because of Hyrule and the people of Hyrule. I don't like being far away from home for long. I love my homeland," said Zelda as her eyes began to shine thinking of Hyrule, which she loved with all of her heart.

"You've been away for a long time protecting the Avatar, though."

"I miss my home dearly."

"Then why don't you just return home?"

"Because this is my duty. I must do my duties as Princess of Hyrule, but I also must complete my duties as Empress of Light. I often think about home though. I miss the lush green fields, the crystal clear waters of Lake Hyrule and I miss my people and my family. I miss being able to share my wisdom with the people of Hyrule. They would come from all over to have me help them solve their troubles and quarrels."

"You seem to love your land very much."

"Oh, I do. More than you will ever know. I always felt like I was the older sister of Hyrule. Guiding her, loving her, protecting her."

Zuko thought about what she had just said. She was always so brave. Princess Zelda was obviously deeply pained by leaving her homeland for such a long time, but she still came here just to protect the Avatar and complete her duties. To protect another land, instead of just protecting her own land, she comes to a far away land to protect it. He admired Zelda for that.

"We are almost to the ship," Zuko said.

"Thank goodness, my back is killing me."

Zuko smirked at this comment. Because he knew she must be in an uncomfortable position.

Instead of getting on his ship, Zuko stopped.

"Before we get on my ship, I just wanted to say…thanks."

"For what?"

"For saving my life."

"Oh yeah, it was no problem. I didn't have to think about it for a second. You were always there to protect me and help me when we were younger, I was just doing the same for you."

Zelda smiled and Zuko even smiled a little, but Zelda didn't see it because she was still slung over Zuko's shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

Zuko boarded his ship with Zelda still on his shoulder.

Uncle Iroh just happened to pass them with a cup of his favorite tea in his hand.

"Prince Zuko, welcome back. I see you've been busy. Who do you have there?" Iroh asked smirking.

Prince Zuko turned to reveal Princess Zelda's face. Zelda looked up to Iroh and smiled.

"Oh hello, Mr. Iroh. How are you?" She held out a hand to Iroh and they shook hands.

"Hello Princess Zelda. I have been well. It has been quite a long time. You've grown into a beautiful young lady."

"Thank you, Mr. Iroh."

"Please just call me Iroh or Uncle, Princess."

"Alright."

Zuko was getting tired of having a conversation being held on his back so he turned to leave, but stopped when his uncle said, "You surely are not taking the princess to a cell are you, Prince Zuko?"

"What if I am?" he asked getting irritated.

"Those cold, dark cells don't suit a Princess at all Prince Zuko."

"Then what do you suggest I do, Uncle?" Zuko asked getting more irritated by the second.

"Well considering there are no more rooms available at the moment, I suggest that she stay in your room."

"What!" Zuko and Zelda asked at the same time.

"Your room is nice and would suit a Princess and your bed is very big you both could fit into it easily."

"Now you want us to sleep together!" shouted Zuko, becoming infuriated. Zelda began to blush and got a little nervous.

"I won't allow you to put Princess Zelda in a prison cell, Prince Zuko. So it seems that you have no other choice."

Smoke began to come from Prince Zuko's nostrils because he was getting extremely frustrated. Then he stormed off to his room with Zelda still on his shoulder.

When Zuko opened the large metal door it revealed a room with a large bed with red, satin blankets and a red canopy over top of it. The bed frame was a beautiful mahogany color. There was a large, red armchair in the corner and a mahogany dresser and doors to a closet in the other corner. Sitting by the window was a large red couch and beside it was a mahogany desk. A tapestry with the symbol of the Fire Nation hung over his bed.

"Well seems that we have no choice, this is where you will be staying," Zuko said still mad.

"It's very nice," Zelda said. "Uh, Prince Zuko can you put me down now?"

"Oh," he said. He seemed to have forgotten that she was on his shoulder, because Zelda was extremely light. He gently let her down. Zelda's eyes only came up to Prince Zuko's chin, she noticed. Zelda remembered him when he was younger. 'He had grown so much and had grown very handsome,' she noted.

Prince Zuko was thinking the same thing, 'She's grown into such a beautiful young woman. You could get lost in those brilliant blue eyes,' he thought. Getting lost in her eyes is exactly what he did, he stared into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity until she stumbled a bit and grabbed his shoulder. Realizing she was still weak from saving his life, he grabbed Zelda under her arms and helped her to stand.

She muttered, "Thank you."

The Princess waved her hand in the air leaving a trail of shimmering magic trying to make her staff appear, but it failed. She did it once more groaning with the effort she was using. It appeared with the sparkle of magic like last time. Zelda used it to stand and Zuko removed his hand from under her arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, just…weak from losing so much spirit energy," she said slowly.

"You should get some rest."

"Yes," she said walking toward the couch and lay down.

"What are you doing?" asked the banished Prince.

"Sleeping."

"Why aren't you sleeping in the bed?"

"I do not wish to invade your bed, so I am sleeping on the couch."

"That's ridiculous. I will not allow you to sleep on the couch. Come over to the bed and sleep, now," Zuko ordered pointing at the bed.

"I am perfectly fine sleeping on the couch."

"I said come sleep in the bed now," Zuko said getting irritated, hands glowing.

"Since when have you been able to order me around?" Zelda asked coolly.

Zuko walked over to the couch and bent low over her glaring into her eyes, "Since you became my prisoner."

With that said, he scooped her up and carried a flailing Zelda over to the bed. "Put me down! Put me down! Let me go!" she screamed.

He dropped her on the bed and said, "Either you sleep here or in the prison cell. It's your choice," Zuko said sharply.

She glared for a second and said, "Well can I at least have some pajamas to wear instead of my royal garb?"

Zuko glared back and strode over to his dresser and looked through it. He pulled out some clothes for Zelda to wear. They seemed to have been old clothes because they didn't look like they'd fit Zuko now. The shirt was black and had an ornate red trim at the bottom and at the sleeves. The pants matched them perfectly, they were black and had the same ornate red trim as the shirt at the bottom of the pant legs.

"Will this do?" Zuko asked hotly.

Zelda got up off the bed and grabbed her staff. She walked slowly over to Zuko having to use her staff for every step she took. Then she came up very close to Zuko and stared him in the eyes for a second, and then said, "Yes." With that she snatched the clothes out of his hands, and walked towards Zuko's private bath so she could change.

Zuko stood there with his hands folded into fists and glowing. He was shaking with rage, then he calmed himself and pulled his shirt off and put on baggy black pants that were his pajamas. Zuko still enraged, climbed into bed, and pulled the covers sharply over him.

The door to the bath opened and Zelda walked out still leaning on her staff for support. The pants and shirt were both very baggy on her. Even though they were too small for Prince Zuko now, they were very big on her. The shirt went to the middle of her thighs and the pants completely hid her feet. The sleeves of the shirt came to her elbows. She still wore her golden headband with the red stone in the middle and her earrings that had a small gold chain with the symbol of the Triforce at the bottom. Zelda never removed her headband or the earrings. Still walking with her staff, she made her way to the armchair where she laid her royal dress and the long gloves she always wore over her hands. After she spread her dress over the back of the chair and laid her gloves on top and sat her pink pumps by the chair, she walked slowly over to the bed. Zuko watched her as she made her staff disappear for now. Then she extinguished the flame of a candle by her. Zuko felt the bed move a little as Zelda slid into the bed.

"Good night," Zelda said sharply.

"Good night," Zuko replied even more sharply.


	5. Chapter 5

Aang, Sokka, and Katara had left the cave and were on the fluffy flying bison. They were searching for Prince Zuko's ship in hopes of saving Princess Zelda, but so far they had been unsuccessful.

"I'm sooooo hungry," Sokka complained as his stomach responded with a loud growl.

"Sokka! Can you think of anything other than food for once! We are trying to rescue Zelda and all you can think about is food!" Katara shouted at her brother.

Sokka replied with a smart comment and they continued arguing. Aang sat there thinking of Princess Zelda and wondering if she was okay. He still felt guilty for leaving her behind. He was also thinking about what he had said to Prince Zuko still.

"_Do you think we could have been friends?"_

That question danced in his mind. It never stopped either. Aang hoped with all of his heart that he would someday become friends with Prince Zuko.

The trio continued their search for Prince Zuko's ship.

Zuko was the first to awaken. 'I feel so warm he thought, I haven't slept this well in awhile'

He then opened his eyes to see Princess Zelda snuggled against him and this shocked him, but he realized that he didn't mind it at all. In fact, he enjoyed it very much. Zuko pulled her even closer so that she was against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. He lay there staring at her as she slept peacefully. A few minutes later she stirred and awoke. Zuko pretended to be asleep. He felt her jump obviously shocked to be this close. So she grabbed his hands and unwrapped them from around her waist and pulled away. Zuko then "awoke" and saw that Princess Zelda was summoning her staff again. Zuko sat up and got out of bed. He went over to his closet and got his armor and other clothing out. Zelda looked up and asked, "Do you have anything that I could wear?"

He once again went to his dresser and got another outfit out. It was the exact same thing as the pajamas she wore.

Zelda grabbed her staff and snatched the clothes out of his hands again and went into the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom Zuko quickly changed into his armor. She came out again and was dressed. This time she just put on her pink pumps.

"Would you happen to have a brush or a comb?" Zelda asked

Zuko dug in his drawers and found a brush and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Zelda said.

"Breakfast is served in 15 minutes, in the mess hall," Zuko informed Zelda.

"Alright, and how do I get to the mess hall?" Zelda asked.

Zuko told her the directions and Zelda memorized them.

Zelda sat at the desk to brush her hair, still thinking about the position she was in when she awoke. 'I haven't slept that well in such a long time,' she thought. 'I was so comfortable, it felt so…right.'

Zuko turned and left without a word. Zelda sat there for 5 minutes brushing her golden hair to perfection. Then she made her staff appear then she headed toward the mess hall. She made it there a few minutes early. Prince Zuko was sitting at the head of a table, and he waved at her to come and sit next to him. Zelda walked over to the table and sat down.

"You seem to have found you way pretty easily," Zuko said surprised.

"I have a pretty good memory," Zelda said.

"That's a good thing because this place is like a maze," interrupted Iroh as he walked toward the table Zelda and Zuko were sitting at. "I still get lost on this ship."

Zelda chuckled a little, but Zuko just rolled his eyes.

"How did you two sleep last night?" Iroh asked.

Zelda turned a little red thinking about the position that they were in when she awoke, but Zuko just said, "I slept very well. Better than I have in a long time."

Uncle Iroh raised an eyebrow suspiciously and asked, "And how did you sleep Princess?"

"Very well actually. It was nice to get some rest. I feel a little better than I did yesterday."

"That is wonderful. Would you like a cup of ginseng tea?"

"Yes, please. I love tea," Zelda said.

"It is about time. I am the only one on this ship who ever drinks tea. What is your favorite kind?"

"My favorite is chamomile. It is very calming," replied Zelda.

"Ahhh, yes. Chamomile, I also enjoy that tea very much. It is very soothing."

"Do you like tea as well Prince Zuko?" Zelda asked.

"No," Zuko sharply replied.

"You should try it sometimes. It is very calming. I think you sometimes need something to calm you," Zelda said smiling.

"I need nothing to calm me," he said his temper rising already.

"Can I interest you in some now?" Zelda asked smirking.

"I told you already I don't like tea. Why are you asking when I just told you that?" asked Zuko, his hands beginning to glow.

"Because you're losing your temper," she said smirking.

Zuko just glared at her and went to get his breakfast. Princess Zelda followed him to the kitchen to get her breakfast.

Once they returned, they began to eat. Princess Zelda ate eggs, bread, and a piece of ham. The food was delicious for being on a ship.

After they finished eating, a man walked up to Zelda, he seemed to be intoxicated because he was swaying out of control.

"And who is this beautiful little tramp?" he asked, obviously unaware of who he was talking to.

Zelda just looked away and didn't even recognize his presence.

Then the man struck her across the cheek and said, "I asked you a question wench!"

Zuko and Iroh had already stood up getting ready to pounce on the man but something stopped them and now they looked at Zelda in a shocked way. The drunken man didn't know why they were looking at her that way, but then she turned her head towards him. She looked infuriated, but the oddest thing was that her eyes had no pupils and they were glowing blue. Then her body raised into the air her head and limbs hanging limp. Then her body began to glow blue her head lifted. And out of her mouth didn't come the normal, soft voice of Zelda, but the deep voice of a grown woman.

"You shall not touch the crown Princess of Hyrule!" the voice said and in a flash of blue Princess Zelda was in her royal dress.

"You shall not touch the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom!" her left hand rose with the backside of her hand showing. On her hand was the glowing shape of the Triforce.

"You shall not touch the future Queen of Hyrule!" in a flash of blue her clothing had changed again. It was a red, royal dress and she was wearing a great golden tiara.

"You shall not touch the great general of the Hylian Army!" in another flash of blue she was wearing golden armor. The top part seemed to come off into a skirt and she wore golden, metal boots that come up to her mid-thigh. There was also a sword hanging at her hip.

"You shall not touch the Sage of Time!" in another flash she was wearing a flowing dress of blue satin. It was strapless and bore the symbol of the Triforce on front of the bottom half of the dress.

"You shall not touch the Empress of Light!" in a flash she was wearing a dress of gold satin that open in the front to reveal a white piece of gold silk. It had a long golden cape and she wore a Japanese style crown.

"If you ever touch Princess Zelda again, you shall regret it!"

In a final flash of blue she was in her royal dress again and she went limp again. Her head drooped and her limbs dangled from her body lifelessly. Her body floated silently down to Prince Zuko, who still had his mouth agape as did everyone else in the mess hall.

Princess Zelda landed in Prince Zuko's arms and her eyes fluttered open, "That wasn't me Prince Zuko. That was Nayru, the goddess of wisdom in my land. She was protecting my honor. Nayru is always there for me," she whispered and then she fainted.

Prince Zuko glared at the man who struck her, "Guards throw this man into a cell. I'll deal with him later."

Zuko carried Princess Zelda to his bedroom. He laid her gently on the bed. Zuko noticed that the royal dress she had laid on the armchair was still there. Zelda's eyes opened and she sat up. Zuko was sitting on the end of the bed watching her.

"Are you alright, Princess Zelda?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"What happened back there?"

"Well, remember what I told you about Nayru?"

"Yes, about her being the goddess of wisdom in Hyrule."

"Remember how she said I am the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom," she said showing that backside of her left hand that had the golden symbol of the Triforce, which was 3 small triangles that touched each other forming a larger triangle, "well since she is the goddess of wisdom she protects me. Back there she was protecting me, but mostly she was protecting my honor."

"I am sorry that you had to go through that on my ship. I despise the wrong treatment of women. The man who struck you has been dealt with accordingly."

"Thank you, for being there for me as well Prince Zuko," Princess Zelda said as she hugged him.

Zuko was somewhat surprised by this, but slowly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. He again felt like he felt this morning. So comfortable, so warm, and it felt so right. He released her from the hug and said, "I must go train now." You can come and watch if you want to."

"Alright, I'll come," Zelda agreed and smiled.

He returned the smile a little, but then the smile was gone. He turned and strode through the door, Zelda followed with her staff in hand. She almost had to jog to keep up with Prince Zuko because he took such long strides. They took so many turns Zelda knew she would get lost of she tried to find the way there.


	6. Chapter 6

Finally they were on the deck, it was about noon on a beautiful day. There was not a cloud in sight. It was a little windy but it felt good to feel the breeze go through her golden hair. Zelda closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the sweet, ocean air.

Prince Zuko stood there watching her. 'She looks absolutely gorgeous standing there with the wind in her hair and her dress flowing with the breeze.' He shook his head, returning himself to reality, and turned toward his Uncle.

He walked over to his Uncle Iroh, who was sitting at a table drinking tea, and told him that he wished to train. Zuko then took off his armor and his shirt, then his training partner walked over.

Zelda walked over to watch she sat down in a chair next to Iroh.

Zuko began his training by standing in his fighting stance. Then he let out a barrage of fireballs and he charged his partner doing fire kicks and other marvelous fiery attacks. Zelda, being a master of fighting herself, focused on his movements. She was finding his weaknesses and flaws in his technique in case she would ever have to fight him. Honestly, she realized that he didn't have that many flaws at all, not as many as other people she's seen fight. Zelda watched as the fire erupted from his fists and flew threw the air following his movements. It was almost like a dance with fire. Zelda noticed that a firebender's balance was very important in their fighting. Destroy their base and you could defeat them.

'He's so muscular,' Princess Zelda noted. 'So powerful, yet so graceful in his movements. He's an excellent fighter. He could defeat almost any opponent he faced…except for me.' She smirked at this thought.

"Prince Zuko, focus. Do not get too intense. If you are more relaxed, you can focus better."

Zuko nodded and continued. After many other attacks Zuko had finally caught the other firebender with Zuko's hand at his opponent's neck.

"Very good Prince, Zuko. You did very well today, even better than usual. I guess you had more initiative today," said Iroh he winked and looked over to Princess Zelda who had gotten up and was at the railing. She was staring into the ocean while leaning on her staff. Her golden hair shined in the sunlight. Prince Zuko walked over to her.

"Isn't the ocean amazing?" Zelda asked before Zuko could even announce his presence.

"I guess so. I am kind of tiring of it though. We're always traveling on the ocean."

"I could never tire of it. It's so mysterious and so amazingly beautiful." Zelda turned and looked up to Zuko and stared into his eyes. "It kind of reminds me of…you."

"What?" he was surprised by this statement.

"You are a mystery to me Zuko, a mystery that I would enjoy solving," she smiled and looked into his eyes.

"And how do you plan to do that?" he asked also smiling.

She looked around and realized everyone had left the deck, "Like this…" and she stood up on her toes and used her staff for balance and kissed him on the cheek.

Zelda walked toward the door, as Zuko stood there shocked holding the cheek that Zelda had just kissed in his hand. It felt warm, so warm. Something inside him jumped for sheer joy. He felt as though his heart had just skipped a beat. Then he did something he hadn't recently done, he smiled out of pure joy. Not to respond to someone else's smile, not because he had just heard news on the Avatar, just out of the pure joy he felt. He followed Zelda over to the door. She stood there waiting for him. Once he arrived at her side, he grabbed her hand and led her down the many corridors toward his room.

Zelda went into the room. She turned to see if Zuko was coming in, but he still stood motionless at the door.

"I have some things to take care of, so you can stay in here if you want or you could explore the ship," Zuko said.

"I think I will stay here and rest," Zelda replied.

"Very well, see you later then, Princess Zelda," Zuko said.

"Goodbye."

Zelda sat in the comfy armchair for a moment and thought about how he had said her name. She liked it when he called her Princess Zelda. She felt like her heart was soaring whenever he looked at her or spoke to her. The love of two young children years ago was being reborn.


	7. Chapter 7

"Is there any news on the Avatar?" Zuko asked the lieutenant.

"No, sir. We have no idea where he is," said the lieutenant.

"He shall come to me if he truly cares about Princess Zelda," Zuko said. 'Just like I truly care for her,' he thought.

Aang, Sokka, and Katara had been trailing Zuko's ship for quite some time now. But they had been keeping a distance so they could not be spotted.

"What are we going to do Aang?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure," Aang responded worriedly.

"I say we wait until Zelda returns to the deck like last time, and swoop down on Appa and take off with Zelda," Sokka suggested.

"Actually Sokka, that sounds like a good plan," Katara said surprised by her brother's decent idea.

"If she doesn't come out by sunset, then we'll have to try again tomorrow," Sokka continued.

"But what if Prince Zuko comes on the deck with her? What will we do then?" Katara asked.

"I could jump off of Appa as soon as he came out. As soon as I'd land you guys would swoop down on Appa as fast as you can. I'll distract Zuko long enough for you guys to get Zelda on Appa," Aang said.

"Alright, just be careful Aang," Katara said worriedly.

Aang nodded, sitting on Appa's head. He was still feeling guilty about leaving Zelda alone with Zuko.

Prince Zuko walked back to his room to see was Princess Zelda was doing. When he opened the door there was no one there.

'Did she go to explore the ship?' he asked himself.

Then he decided he would look in his bathroom, he walked over to the bathroom and pressed his ear up against it at first, he heard nothing. Zuko wanted to check to see if anyone was in there, so he opened the door and saw Zelda lying in the bathtub. His eyes opened wide in shock and he gasped.

She turned and gasped attempting to cover herself and screamed.

"Get out! Get out!" she yelled at Zuko.

"Zuko!" she screamed again, but this time shooting a small magic blast at him. It hit him in the chest and pushed him back out the door. The door slammed shut, Zelda used her magic to shut it.

'Wow she has a great figure,' he thought.

'No, no, no! Be civilized Zuko! Don't be such a pervert!' he mentally yelled at himself.

He was still kicking himself mentally, as he sat on the bed with his head in his hands, when Princess Zelda walked out. Her cheeks turned red from embarrassment. She was wearing her royal dress still.

"S-sorry," Zuko stuttered, he turning red himself.

"Apology acc-accepted," she also stammered from sheer embarrassment.

"Um, you are to join my uncle and myself in my private dining chamber for dinner," Zuko said awkwardly.

"Alright, is dinner now?"

"Yes, it is 5:00, which is when we have dinner everyday," Zuko informed Zelda.

"Shall we head to your dining chambers then?" Zelda asked.

"Yes," Zuko replied getting off the bed, heading for the door.

But before he could exit the room, Zelda had grabbed his arm. She looked up into his golden eyes and then wrapped her arm under his with her staff in the other hand. Zuko looked down upon her and smiled as did Princess Zelda. They began their journey toward Zuko's dining chambers, but just before they entered the room Zelda took her arm out from under his.

"I don't think your uncle has to know about this just yet," Zelda said looking into Zuko's eyes.

"I think you're right," Zuko said, "He would pester me about it forever."

Zelda smiled. He loved it when she smiled. Her smiled could light up the darkest room. It made his heart jump whenever she did.

Zuko opened the door for Zelda and she strode in still leaning on her staff. Iroh was there sipping on his tea. He looked up and smiled to see them walking in together.

"Hello Princess Zelda and Prince Zuko," he greeted them happily.

"Hello," they both replied. Prince Zuko pulled out a chair opposite Iroh and motioned for Zelda to sit. She did so.

"Prince Zuko you have such good manners with a lady on the ship. You should come more often Princess," he said smiling.

Zelda giggled, but Zuko just glared at his Uncle as he sat himself at the head of the table.

"Tonight we are having fish with some noodles and bread," Iroh said happily, he loved noodles.

Everyone dug into their food, but Zelda finished her meal first. She was very hungry, normally not having that much food while she was traveling with the Avatar.

After everyone else was done their meals, Iroh went off to his tearoom to play Pai Chow.

"What do you want to do now?" Zuko asked her, still in his dining quarters.

"I think I will go up to the deck and watch the sunset," Zelda replied.

"Alright, I have something to take care of. I'll be there once I'm done," he said.

"Okay, see you then," Zelda said grabbing her staff and walking out the door.

'I'll probably get lost,' she thought and then sighed hoping she would be able to find her way.

Zuko then walked out of his chambers heading for the captain's deck.

Once he got there he asked his lieutenant, "Any news on the Avatar?"

"Actually, one of our men claims that they saw the flying bison trailing the ship earlier today," the lieutenant said.

He was thinking about this for a second and then realized Zelda was heading for the deck alone, 'They'll try to fly off with her,' he thought.

"Lieutenant change direction for the nearest port city," Zuko ordered with an angry expression on his face.

He dashed out of the captain's quarters and ran toward the deck as fast as he could, he wouldn't let them take her from him.

Zelda was still walking toward the deck and finally she found a door. She had only gotten lost once, but then she quickly corrected her mistake. The Princess followed the sweet smell of the ocean and she finally found the door. Opening the door, she saw the sun setting into the beautiful ocean. With her staff glinting in the sunlight, Zelda walked over to the railing while enjoying the cool, ocean breeze.

Zuko was running with all of his speed. Running into people who passed him, he didn't care, the banished Prince just wanted to make sure he didn't lose the Princess who stole his heart. 'Almost there,' he told himself. He ran up the steps and opened the door and took a step out.

"Aang look! Zuko just stepped out! Go now!" Katara ordered.

Aang nodded quickly and grabbed his glider and jumped quickly off of Appa. The cool wind was stinging his face as he fell. He pulled his legs together and put his arms tight to his sides so he would fall faster. 'Almost there…' he told himself.

Zelda had noticed that something was falling from the clouds. It looked like a person, but she couldn't tell who it was.

Zuko walking over to Zelda had just spotted the person falling. 'The Avatar,' he thought to himself.

Aang was almost there, so he opened his glider and flew down landing gently on the ship.

Immediately, he shot a blast of air at Zuko to blow him away, but Zuko dodged it and charged Aang.

While they were fighting Zelda noticed something else coming from the sky. 'Appa…?' she thought. Appa was swooping down from the sky incredibly fast.

Although Zuko was still in battle, but he saw the giant, fluffy monster swoop down from the cover of clouds.

"No!" he shouted. Zuko set Aang's airbender clothes on fire and ran toward Zelda. Appa was almost to the ship and was starting to slow down. Appa was right next to Princess Zelda and Sokka was reaching out to grab Zelda's hand. Princess Zelda leaned toward Sokka reaching her hand out toward his.

Time seemed to slow down in that moment. Zuko was right behind Princess Zelda he drew a dagger from his belt still running toward Sokka and Zelda. He grabbed Zelda around the waist and pulled her out of Sokka's reach. Zuko rose his dagger preparing to slash Sokka's arm. The dagger came down quickly and slashed an arm, but it was not Sokka's arm that was slashed. He looked at the arm again and it was the arm of Princess Zelda. She had blocked Zuko's attack to protect Sokka. Blood stained her long, rose glove and she brought her arm back into her body and winced in pain.

"Go, go! Leave!" Zelda ordered them. Katara steered Appa out of Zuko's reach.

Zelda turned to Aang still holding her slashed arm.

"Aang go! Go, master waterbending! When you need me come back! I'll be waiting and I will be ready to help you when you need me," Zelda told him.

"B-but…Zelda," Aang said, his eyes watering up.

"Aang, you will be fine without me. You have Katara and Sokka to care for you for now. Just remember if you need me, you know where to find me."

Aang nodded, tears streaming down his face. He opened his glider and flew over to Appa. He landed and Katara told him to, "Yip, yip."

All three of them turned and watched Zelda standing there, with a tear falling from her eye. Katara was crying and Zelda noticed that even Sokka had a tear fall from his eye. She watched sadly as her friends flew away, headed for the North Pole.

Zelda watched them until she couldn't see Appa anymore. Then she pulled of the blood soaked glove and used it to wrap her wound. Zuko looked at her and thought, 'She could've escaped, but she didn't want to put her friends in danger. She even took my attack for that so-called water tribe warrior.'

Zuko grabbed Zelda and picked her up and started to carry her toward the door that lead to the inside of the ship.

"My arm was slashed not my legs, Prince Zuko. I can walk without my arm," Zelda said smiling.

He glared at her and just continued walking. Once they were in the room Zuko laid Zelda on the bed.

"Why did you do that!" Zuko shouted at her.

"What?" Zelda asked smirking.

"You know very well what!" Zuko shouted again, with his hands glowing.

"Oh, you mean blocking your attack on Sokka? Just protecting a friend. Don't worry about it so much, Prince Zuko, it's not your fault," Zelda said smiling.

"I'm not worrying about it!" he shouted.

"Then why are you shouting and why are your hands glowing?" she asked smirking.

"I WAS THE ONE WITH THE DAGGER. I WAS THE ONE WHO HURT YOU!" he shouted at the top of his lungs his eyes almost glowing from anger.

"Actually, I was the one who hurt myself, since I stepped in front of it," she said and then she sat up into a sitting position on the bed and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault."

Zuko had calmed a little and looked at her arm, "I'm going to go get the ship doctor."

He turned to leave the room, but Zelda grabbed his arm and held him back.

"There's no need to," Zelda said. "I know someone who will heal me right now."

He looked at her questioningly, but stopped and turned to face her. Zelda stood and faced Zuko and smiled. She put her left hand in front of her face so that Zuko could see the backside of her hand. With her fingers tight together, she said, "O, great goddess of wisdom, Nayru, I, Princess Zelda, bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, call upon you. Come to me, help me, heal me."

After Zelda had called upon the goddess, Nayru, the Triforce of Wisdom began glowing golden on her hand. Then suddenly she opened her fingers widely, revealing her eyes glowing golden with no pupils. Zuko watched in awe as Zelda called upon her goddess. Eyes now glowing blue, the rest of Zelda's body glowed blue. Then out came that same voice Zuko heard the day that man struck Princess Zelda, "Princess Zelda, I have come. I will heal your body now." Then Zelda, possessed by Nayru, lifted her left hand with the Triforce still glowing, the glow around her hand grew and shined brightly. She waved the brightly growing hand over top of her wound, and wound glowed blue for a second then healed itself, leaving no blood, just a scar.

"You are healed Princess," Nayru said. "Call upon me again when you need me."


	8. Chapter 8

Then the blue glow around Zelda faded and her eyes returned to normal and the long rose glove was repaired and had no blood on it.

"It seems you are left with but a scar," Zuko said. "Your first scar it seems." Prince Zuko still felt bad about what he did to Zelda.

"No, very, very far from my first," she responded laughing a little. "Do you remember one of my titles Nayru said when that man hit me? General of the Hylian Army?"

"Oh, yes now I remember. Wait…you are general of your land's army?" he asked shocked.

"Yup, sure am," she said.

"Wow, but you are only a year younger than me so you're 16 and you've been a war already?" Zuko asked obviously still extremely shocked.

"3 to be exact," she said.

"How did you become general?"

"I defeated the former general in a fight. It's tradition for all children of the king to fight the current general to see if they can defeat him. Normally the children of the king don't win, but I did. So, I became general," she said nonchalantly.

"When did you fight him? How old were you?" asked Zuko still shocked that a princess became a general.

"I fought him about 4 years ago. I was only 12," she responded, amused by how shocked he was.

"You were only 12 and you were still able to beat a grown man in a fight!"

"Uhh…yup. Each of the 3 wars I fought in only lasted a year. We didn't lose any of them," Zelda said proudly.

"I don't see any scars on you though," he said, very impressed by her.

"You wouldn't. I use magic to hide them."

"Why would you hide battle scars? You should wear them proudly," Zuko asked with his right hand in a fist.

"Well, for a man it's okay to 'wear them proudly,' but not for a girl."

"Will you show me them?" Zuko asked curiously.

Princess Zelda sighed and said, "Fine…" She raised her right arm over her head and it glowed golden. Then she slowly brought it down in front of her face. It revealed red scars on her face. There was an "x" shaped scar on her right cheek. On the left side of her face there was a scar that started at the middle of her forehead and ended right near her chin. It formed the shape of the crescent moon and in the middle of it there was a small straight scar that intersected the crescent moon scar.

Prince Zuko stood there mouth agape at the scars on her face. Then he walked slowly closer to her and put his left hand on the side of her head. The astonished Prince slowly traced both of the scars with his finger.

Zelda broke the silence saying, "I got the scar on my left cheek in the…first war I believe. Along with this." Zuko removed his hands from Princess Zelda's face and head as she looked down at her right arm and removed her glove. It revealed that scar Zuko just made which was now red. Then he noticed that there was another scar that made a ring around her arm right before her elbow, it was red as well.

"My forearm was cut off here," she said as she traced the scar with her finger.

"Really? Then why is it still there?" he asked smirking holding her arm so he could examine it.

"Nayru put it back on for me," she said smiling.

"That must have been extremely painful," Zuko commented still tracing the scar and shocked that Zelda could go through so much pain.

"It was the most painful thing I have experienced in my life, well physically at least."

Zuko looked at her questioningly.

Before he could say anything else Princess Zelda said, "I think that it's time for my scars to go back into hiding for now." Zelda stepped away from Zuko and again her hand glowed golden and hid the battle scars.

Princess Zelda sat on the bed and Prince Zuko sat down next to her. The two royal teens were silent for a while until Prince Zuko said, "How do you do it Zelda? You go through all the pain and still keep going."

Princess Zelda looked at him and smiled, "The physical pain is easy to defeat when you have a war to win for your land. The emotional and mental pain…is difficult," she said, her folded hands tightening.

"What emotional and mental pain are you talking about?" Zuko asked, becoming curious.

Princess Zelda looked at him and her eyes became darker, "Many people have said that after the Agni Kai, I had become dark and distant. I never thought I would be the same and I was right…I could never be the same way I was. Hope, happiness, and optimism, those things seemed so far away. It felt like a part of my heart died that day. But, then I thought of something that made me feel better…do you know what that thing was, Prince Zuko?"

"…no…," he responded quietly.

"Hyrule. Hyrule was my source of hope, happiness, and optimism. I needed to be there for my people, I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by the past," Zelda said eyes brighter, thinking about her homeland.

"I didn't know that you were so…broken…by that day, Princess Zelda," Zuko said remembering that day.

"Oh, I was…more than you could imagine," Zelda said, reliving the pain of the past, "So broken that I interfered with the Agni Kai."

"What? You did?" Zuko asked unaware of this information.

"Don't you rememb- oh, wait you had been knocked out. Yes, after your fath-…Fire Lord Ozai scarred you, I couldn't take it anymore. Engulfed with pain, I ran out into the arena and stood between Fire Lord Ozai and you."

"That was not a very wise decision, especially in the midst of the whole Fire Nation."

"At the time, I was 12. Only 12, and watching her best friend being hurt by their own father, it was a wise decision at the time for me."

"What did my father do to you?"

FLASHBACK

_I watched as Fire Lord Ozai walked toward Prince Zuko. Zuko had streams of tears flowing from his eyes and was bowing to his father. I myself was crying and shaking with fright. Looking at the people of the Fire Nation around me, I saw that some of them were smiling. My father, the King of Hyrule stood next to me, an obvious expression of disgust was adorning his face. Then I looked back to the middle of the arena. Zuko was now begging for mercy._

'_No! No! No! Stay away from him!' I thought as my heart was being torn into shreds. 'Zuko, you're normally so strong, it pains me to see you like this.' He looked so vulnerable and weak. _

_I wanted so badly to run out into the arena and protect my best friend. But, I didn't wish to interfere with the Fire Nation's twisted traditions because that would have been rude. _

'_But, just sitting here and watching as my best friend is destroyed feels so…wrong.'_

_Ozai had stopped walking and now fire was forming at his fists. I watched Zuko lift his head and look at the man he called father. Drawing his fist back preparing to punch, the flame around it grew. Then it felt as though time had slowed and then I saw him come through slowly with his fire punch. The fire erupted off his fist and flew towards Zuko hitting him in the face._

"_NOOOOOO!" I screamed, being the only voice to rise from the crowd. Everyone turned and stared at me, it looked like Ozai was going to attack again. I quickly jumped out of the audience and put myself in between Zuko and Ozai, spreading my arms out wide to block any attack on him. The entire crowed gasped loudly at my actions._

"_Leave him alone!" I yelled at Fire Lord Ozai as I stared the heartless man in the eyes._

"_Little girl, I don't believe you understand what is going on here," he said smirking. He spoke as though I was 4. "Prince Zuko is being taught a lesson by his father," he said his smirk getting larger._

"_What lesson? That his father is a heartless monster! How can you call yourself a father! A father loves his son. A father cares for his son. A father is someone to rely on. You do not love your son, you do not care for your son, and your son cannot rely on you!" I screamed at him, tears falling from my eyes._

_Ozai glared at the young princess and then said, "Move, girl, or I shall do to you the same thing I did to Prince Zuko!" he shouted as fire came to life in his fists._

"_I'm not moving!" she said bravely as she stopped crying._

"Fine, I will burn you as well!" Ozai shouted.

"_You can try," Zelda said smirking._

_Ozai roared at this smart remark and shot a large fireball at Princess Zelda, who stood her ground and used a blessing of one of the three goddesses to protect herself. Nayru's Love was the name of the attack, which formed a giant, diamond-shaped crystal around her. Zelda's feet lifted off the ground as she was in her giant, spinning, blue crystal. Sharp, square, pieces of the same, hard crystal, sparkled and danced outside the crystal following her outstretched hands. The fireball was caught in between the pieces of crystal and circled the giant crystal. But the fireball had changed color and speed. It was now golden and the speed of the spinning crystal had increased. Suddenly the crystal encasing Zelda disappeared and all that was left were the sparkling pieces of crystal and the fireball, now following Zelda's hand as she spun and suddenly the pieces of crystal spread apart and released the golden fireball back at Fire Lord Ozai. It flew through the air so quickly that Fire Lord Ozai, trying to get out of the way of it, was grazed on his arm by it. The fireball, now heading straight for the crowd, disappeared because Zelda made it. In the aforementioned crowd, she saw General Iroh…smiling._

"_HOW DARE YOU!" Ozai roared, holding his burnt arm. _

_Zelda knew he would want to continue fighting, so, in a flash of magic, she changed her appearance. She was now Sheik, a disguise she used often to escape Hyrule Castle. Sheik wore a blue one-piece outfit. It was so tight that you could see the muscles of her arms and legs. She wore a small, white, poncho-like covering that covered from her waist up. It was tightened by a white piece of cloth that she used as a belt to tighten the poncho. At the neck, the poncho had a collar that was so long that you couldn't see Zelda's/Sheik's nose or mouth. On her head she wore a helmet like object that was made of thin, white strips of cloth. It held her hair up within it but there was some hair that stuck out from under it. So, it made her hair look short. The oddest thing was, the only feature visible on her face, her eyes. They were now red, not their normal blue color. _

_Sheik lifted her hands revealing that all of her fingers, except for her thumbs, were covered in metal that came off to a sharp tip at the ends of her fingers. What Ozai didn't know was that the metal casing on her fingers were not only used for slashing and slicing, but they had metal darts that could pierce almost anything within them. _

_Ozai then laughed. "You are going to fight, Princess Zelda?"_

_Silence responded him. Sheik was crouched low into a fighting position._

"_Fine, have it your way," he said laughing still._

_He awaited her attack, but instead Ozai saw Sheik start running toward him so low to the ground that it looked like she would fall over. Suddenly, Sheik had disappeared. Ozai stood and looked around for her._

"_What are you too afraid to face me, Zelda!" he shouted at someone he couldn't even see._

"_Fire Lord Ozai," said a voice in the crowd behind him. Ozai turned to see his brother looking at him. "The Princess has not used her magic to disappear. She is moving so fast that you cannot see her."_

_At this comment, Fire Lord Ozai's eyes opened wide in shock. Then Sheik reappeared right in front of him and fired her fists at his stomach. Her punches were so fast that you couldn't see her hands. The punches were continuous. Ending her relentless barrage of punches, Sheik bent low and kicked him in the stomach, spun, and kicked again. Ozai held his stomach, but then fired a flaming fist toward Sheik's face. Sheik bent low backwards, forming an arc with her body, stomach facing up. Then she stood with her hands as her feet went up and kicked Ozai square in the chin, sending him backwards. Sheik rolled backwards landing on her feet watching for Ozai's next attack. Ozai turned and looked at Sheik, blood trickling from his mouth. He sent many fireballs heading in Sheik's direction. Then Sheik, using her speed, disappeared again. Ozai once again, looked around for her and became infuriated. Unbeknownst to him, Sheik reappeared right behind him and grabbed his shoulders and thrusted her knee into his back. Ozai cringed in pain and turned around to see that Sheik again was not there. He turned and saw Sheik crouched low once again. Ozai was about to attack, but someone had stepped in front of him. _

_The figure was heavy and had gray hair and wore a great, red cloak that was lined with black-spotted white fur. He wore a lot of golden items, like a crown that bore the symbol of the Triforce. It was the King of Hyrule. He had a sword drawn and up against Ozai's neck. _

"_Stop where you are Ozai!" he commanded. "If you harm my daughter you will regret it."_

"_She interfered! SHE CHALLENGED ME!" Ozai roared._

"_She was right to challenge you, too. She was right to defend Prince Zuko. She was right when she said that you are no father. When I see what you did to your son, I wonder what kind of a ruler you are. Good rulers do not rule with an iron fist. They rule with compassion, which you obviously don't have," said the great King of Hyrule._

"_Hyrule shall no longer have any ties to this land. Seeing how its ruler treats his own son, we don't want ties with such a violent nation," the King of Hyrule said._

_Ozai stood there dumbfounded with rage. "YOU WILL REGRET BREAKING TIES WITH ME!" he said._

"_Maybe some day we will re-open ties with the Fire Nation, but not as long as you are on the throne, Ozai," the King of Hyrule said, glaring at the Fire Lord._

END FLASHBACK

Prince Zuko sat on the bed staring at Zelda, pondering over the information that she had revealed to him.

"You fought my father?" he said shocked.

Zelda nodded in response.

"Did he even touch you?" Zuko asked curiously.

Princess Zelda responded, "No, he laid neither flame nor finger on me. The look on his face amused me when he found out that I was too fast to see," she said laughing.

"Hyrule broke ties with the Fire Nation that day, huh?"

"Yes, but I spoke to my father about it. He said that once you are Fire Lord we will happily re-open ties with the Fire Nation."

Prince Zuko looked away from Zelda at that moment and his eyes darkened, "If I ever become Fire Lord."

"You have to. You are the only heir to the throne. Any living heir has the right to the throne."

Prince Zuko smiled at Zelda. She returned the smile. 'She always knows how to make me feel better,' he thought. 'With her wise words, and her beautiful smile.' They stared into each other's eyes for a long time. Neither of them ever wanted it to end. Zuko looking down into Princess Zelda's brilliant sapphire eyes and Zelda looking up into Prince Zuko's mysterious golden eyes. 'They are so deep, so full of feeling. They are windows to his heart and soul. Torment, pain, anger, but deep down…love, caring, and kindness.'

Princess Zelda yawned and said, "Pardon me. I think I am going to get ready for bed."

"Well I am going to go bathe, so you can change out here while I am in there," Prince Zuko said pointing to the bathroom.

"Alright," Zelda agreed.

Prince Zuko strode into the bathroom and bathed, while Zelda changed into her (well Prince Zuko's) baggy pajamas.

Princess Zelda climbed into bed, but left the candle lit. She thought about many things.

'Aang, I hope you'll be okay without me.'

'I miss Hyrule.'

'Prince Zuko…I think I love you again.'

She couldn't fall to sleep. Then she heard Prince Zuko come out of the bathroom. He put his dirty clothing away, took his shirt off, and climbedlightly into bed. He put the candle and said, "Good night, Princess."

"Good night, Prince," Zelda responded. They both smiled quietly, enjoying each other's company.

About an hour later, Princess Zelda was still awake. Prince Zuko was tossing and turning and sighing, which meant he was probably awake as well.

"Are you having troubles sleeping as well, Prince Zuko?" Zelda asked.

"Yes…"

"I think I know something that will put us both to sleep," Princess Zelda said as she sat up in the bed. Prince Zuko looked over towards her, but couldn't see anything because it was too dark. He jumped when he saw a shimmer near where the candle sat. Realizing it was just Zelda's magic, he sat up. The candle suddenly came to life and he saw Princess Zelda sitting up with her left hand raised in the air so that the Triforce of Wisdom was facing the ceiling. It began to glow golden and a light came out of it. Suddenly Zuko saw something beginning to appear within the light. It looked like some sort of instrument. The object was of a purplish-blue color and was shaped like a miniature football. It had many holes in the front and had a tube sticking out from the left side of it. On the tube was a silver ring that had the Triforce engraved into it.

"What is that?" Prince Zuko finally asked, unable to hold in the curiosity.

"This, Prince Zuko, is a sacred instrument in Hyrule. It is called the _Ocarnia of Time_. The Ocarnia of Time can control time, which is why I have it, since I am the Sage of Time," Zelda explained smiling at the strange instrument.

"It controls time!" Zuko asked shocked.

"Well, in Hyrule it does. I'm not exactly sure whether it would work here, but I am not going to try it."

"And how might that thing help us sleep better?" Zuko asked roughly, becoming irritable from the lack of sleep.

"Well, Prince Zuko, there's a song that I will play on it that will put us both asleep...hopefully. It is formally known as the _"Ballad of Hyrule,"_ the divine song of my land. I have to play that song to access the Temple of Time and to access many other things. The Ballad of Hyrule was also known as _"Zelda's Lullaby." _My guardian made that name up, because whenever I had troubles sleeping she would always play it and it would always put me to sleep."

"Well play it then. Let's see if it actually works," Zuko said getting even more irritable.

"Fine," Zelda simply responded. Zelda put her left hand on the side that had the tube emitting from it and put her hand underneath the right part of the instrument so she could use her fingers to cover the holes to change the sound of the the instrument. Zelda put her mouth on the tube and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She began playing the instrument. Out of it came the most beautiful sound Zuko had ever heard. It was so tranquil. So relaxing. As Zelda was playing the "_Ballad of Hyrule"_, she thought of the green fields, the grass blowing in the wind. Lake Hyrule, with the sun dancing on its calm surface. The town outside the castle, bustling with life and movement. Then, Zelda's home, Hyrule Castle, the sun radiating off of its white surface. The banner of Hyrule flying in the breeze off the castle's highest tower. Her private gardens, filled with flowers, surrounded by a sparkling stream. Lastly, the Princess saw her family, her guardian, her people. It brought great joy to her heart to see everything she loved and hear the song since she's heard since she was a baby.

The song finished and she opened her eyes to see Prince Zuko laying down looking at her. His golden eyes seemed softened and not as hard and cold as normal.

"That was beautiful," Zuko said in the calmest voice Zelda's ever heard come from his mouth.

"That song is Hyrule. Hyrule is beautiful. The heart and soul of Hyrule lies in that song. The entire time I played it I saw my homeland," Zelda said.

"I feel like I can fall asleep easily now. You were right," Zuko said smiling at Zelda.

"Of course," she said smiling back.

Princess Zelda made the Ocarnia of Time disappear and she put out the candle. She laid down in the bed, with her back to Prince Zuko. She closed her eyes...but then she felt something wrap around her waist. Opening her eyes wide in shock, she realized it was just Prince Zuko. Then he slowly pulled her close to him, so close that she was up against his chest. 'So warm,' she thought, 'so comfortable.' The Prince and Princess smiled to themselves and silently drifted into sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Prince Zuko was in the captain's quarters of the ship. Deep in thought, he had his eyes closed tight and his arms folded.

'Where can the Avatar be heading?' he asked himself. He thought back to when the Avatar and his water tribe peasant friends had tried to rescue Princess Zelda.

"_Aang go! Go, master waterbending!"_

That is what Zelda had said to the Avatar. 'But, where could he master waterbending? The only two places he could do that are at the South Pole and the North Po-.'

Zuko's eyes opened and he jumped up. "That's it!" he said excitedly. "They've been heading north for as long as I can remember. Of course!"

Smiling because of his discovery, he walked out of the room in a much better mood.

* * *

The sunlight coming from the window beat down heavily on Princess Zelda's closed eyelids. Finally giving into the bright sunlight, she opened her eyes. Instead of seeing Prince Zuko, she saw a piece of paper lying on his pillow. She reached over to it and saw that it was a letter.

_Princess Zelda,_

_I am taking care of some things on the ship. We have stopped at the city of Kaikou for supplies and fuel for the ship. Go to breakfast and when you're finished meet me at the entrance of the city._

_-Zuko_

Zelda sighed to herself after reading the letter and stood up. She suddenly realized that she felt much stronger and energized. Walking to the chair she always laid her dress on, she realized that she didn't even need her staff anymore. To test if she actually had her normal power back, she spun around, releasing magic all around her to change her clothing. In a flash of magic, she was wearing her royal dress and all of her jewels. Smiling, she waved her magic around her head and her hair was instantly combed and fixed. 'When Nayru healed me last night, she must have given me my energy back,' she thought.

"Finally!" she said loudly, extremely happy to have her full power back. Zelda didn't like being without her magic for long. It made her vulnerable. And she did **not **like to be vulnerable. Smiling, she walked out of the room in a much better mood.

* * *

Princess Zelda walked off the ship behind all of the sailors and soldiers. She looked out seeing beautiful blue skies and a bustling town ahead of them. The town was not very large, forests surrounded it and in the background was a mountain looming over the town of Kaikou. Zelda noticed Prince Zuko standing at the entrance as he said. Princess Zelda began walking down the steps, but she felt very awkward, having been at sea for a couple of days. She wouldn't let her awkward feeling show, after all she is a princess and princesses are graceful.

Prince Zuko was leaning against a tree near the entrance of the city with his arms folded and eyes closed. Princess Zelda snuck up to him quietly in hopes of scaring him, but apparently she wasn't quiet enough because his unscarred eye shot open quickly.

"What were you doing?" Zuko asked sharply glaring at her.

"Uh….nothing," the princess responded, smiling as her cheeks turned a little red.

"You were trying to surprise me weren't you?" he asked, still leaning on the tree in the same position.

"Maybe," Zelda said smiling.

"Well it wouldn't have worked anyway. I don't scare easily," he said coldly.

"You did when you were a child," Zelda said smiling even wider, remembering all of the times she had snuck up on Prince Zuko when he was least expecting it.

"W-well…so did you!" Zuko said, as he jumped up, not leaning on the tree anymore.

"At least I never screamed," Zelda said smiling wider still.

"Hey! I was alone and you used your magic to appear right behind me! And, if I remember correctly, I put you into a good headlock after that!" Zuko countered now smirking.

Prince Zuko had always treated Zelda like his younger sister, not a princess, which is one reason why Zelda liked him so much. He treated her like a normalperson. Zelda was the same way towards Zuko. They'd never behave like royalty when they were around each other.

That comment wiped the smirk right off of Zelda's face. "That was cheap! I couldn't escape it! You lifted me up off the ground!"

Now it was Zuko's turn to widen his smirk, "Well, it's not my fault you were always short."

At that last remark, Zelda gasped and glared at him. Shaking her fist, she said, "I'll get my revenge soon."

"I can't wait until then," the Prince said smiling still. Then he turned and walked toward the town. "Come on, we have some things to get."

Zelda glared after him, but followed still steaming over the short comment.

What the two royal teens didn't know was that a certain uncle was hiding behind a tree watching the whole ordeal.

"It seems they are in love again," he said to himself. "I'll have to make sure their relationship gets more…serious." Uncle Iroh smirked to himself. He too headed for the town, as he loved to shop.

* * *

Princess Zelda and Prince Zuko walked into the town accompanied by all of his Fire Nation soldiers and sailors. Looking around, Zelda saw just how full of life this town was. They were right in market place, surrounded by the noises of commerce. It reminded her so much of the marketplace at Hyrule.

"Are you sure that this town welcomes the Fire Nation?" Zelda asked, just to be sure that they wouldn't be thrown out.

"Yes, this town is on a neutral island and welcomes all people," Zuko said, looking down at Zelda. "First we're going to get supplies for the ship and food. You're coming with me, too."

Zelda sighed, "Alright, if I have to-."

"You do," Prince Zuko said before she could finish.

Princess Zelda raised an eyebrow at this comment and responded with a simple, "Fine."

Prince Zuko began walking and Zelda walked beside him. He looked over at Princess Zelda, watching her as she looked at the various shops with excitement.

"What are you so excited about?" he finally asked.

"I love to shop," she said even more excitedly than she looked.

"Who said you were allowed to shop?" he asked.

"I don't need permission," she said smirking. "I'll go shopping if I want."

"And how do you plan to do that if you can't escape me?" he said roughly.

"Don't you remember Farore's Wind?" Zelda asked. Farore is the goddess of courage in Hyrule. Princess Zelda has blessings from all of the goddesses, Nayru's Love, the shield blessing, from the goddess of wisdom, Farore's Wind, the transportation blessing, from the goddess of courage, and Din's Fire, the fire blessing, from the goddess of power.

"I don't thi-wait. Is that the one where you disappear and reappear somewhere else?" Zuko asked eyeing her suspiciously as they continued to walk.

Princess Zelda widened the mischievous smirk she already wore as she nodded.

"You had better not!" Prince Zuko said loudly as he pointed at her.

"What will happen if I do?" she asked smartly.

"Just don't!"

"Fine, don't get all worked up. I was just kidding," Zelda said giggling.

Prince Zuko glared at her. "You seem to be feeling much better."

"Yeah, I think when Nayru came to heal me last night, she also gave me my energy back. I was so glad when I found out I had my full magical power back," she said as she held her hands out, palms up with sparkling magic dancing around her hands.

"She's going to be such handful now," he muttered quietly, sighing.

"What was that?" Zelda asked.

"Uhh…we're at the place where we get fuel," he said quickly making something up. But, it was true; they had arrived at their destination.

Princess Zelda eyed him suspiciously and just decided to go along with his made-up comment.


	10. Chapter 10

After Prince Zuko had gotten all of the supplies for the ship, he told Zelda that she could go shopping to her great joy. They had walked around to many of the shops, Prince Zuko nearly telling her that they were leaving many times because he was getting so bored, but she finally found a dress she liked.

Princess Zelda was in the changing room while Prince Zuko awaited her. He sighed and rolled his eyes, 'Girls and their love of shopping. It drives me insane.' Then that thought suddenly left his mind when Princess Zelda walked out of the changing room. The Prince looked at the Princess and his mouth fell open.

Princess Zelda was wearing a ballroom gown that almost looked like it was meant to be bought by royalty. It was a blue color that matched her eyes perfectly. Covered with blue glitter, it was long sleeved and didn't have any straps at the top leaving her shoulders bare. The beautiful dress sparkled when she moved. The top part of her dress, torso up, fit her figure perfectly.

"I really like this dress, Prince Zuko, what do you think?" Zelda asked as she held up the bottom of the dress.

"I..uh…it's really…uh…nice," he responded dumbfounded, completely at a loss for words.

"That's good enough for me," the Princess said smiling, "I'll buy it."

In a flash of magic she was in her normal royal dress again and had the blue ballroom gown in her arms. Prince Zuko walked with her to pay for it. The clerk who owned the store said, "That will be 10,000 gold pieces." Prince Zuko's eyes opened wide at the price of the dress.

"Alright," Zelda said and in a flash of magic she had a sack that was filled with gold pieces. The clerk looked at her curiously as she handed over the gold.

Prince Zuko and Princess Zelda walked out of the store, Prince Zuko holding the dress in his hands. "Are you ready to go back to the ship soon?" Prince Zuko asked.

"Yes," she said. "Hey isn't that Iroh?" Zelda asked pointing at someone carrying a load of purchases.

Prince Zuko sighed and said, "Yes." He was being followed by some of the men from the ship that were also carrying a bunch of things Iroh had bought. Prince Zuko shook his head at his Uncle. Princess Zelda giggled when Iroh noticed them and said, "You should see all of the interesting items I found in this town! I see that you've been doing some shopping yourself."

"I bought a dress," Princess Zelda said smiling.

Iroh returned the smile and continued walking toward the ship. Princess Zelda and Prince Zuko followed walking side by side.

* * *

When they finally made it back to the ship, Princess Zelda went to put the dress in the room and Prince Zuko went to meditate. 

Prince Zuko was sitting on the pillows on the floor, making the flames of candles grow and shrink. It was very calming for him just to do this simple firebending. His eyes were closed but then a green light pierced the darkness behind his eyelids. Prince Zuko opened his eyes to see that a figure was appearing in the green light. Then he saw that it was Princess Zelda, spinning rapidly in the green light as she appeared. Her spinning slowed, as she stopped she opened her eyes and smiled at Prince Zuko.

"Now, I remember that more clearly. Farore's Wind," Prince Zuko said.

"Do you mind if I join you? I haven't meditated in awhile," she said.

"No, go ahead, sit," he said motioning for her to sit on the pillows next to him. Zelda sat cross-legged on the pillows and closed her eyes with her hands on her legs.

"Do you meditate regularly, Princess?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I've meditated since I was about 4 years old. Do you ever notice how level-headed I am?" she asked opening her right eye to look over at Prince Zuko.

"You are always very calm now that you mention it," he said.

"That's why. I regularly meditate. My father always told me that a level head is the sign of a great leader," Zelda said.

"My uncle has always told me that as well," Prince Zuko said.

"Not only do I meditate to keep a level head, but it helps me become a better fighter and keep my magic in check," Zelda said taking a deep, relaxing breath.

"I meditate to keep my fire controlled. Fire is hard to control if you don't have a level head," Prince Zuko said.

"Magic is usually controlled easily, but it can be driven to become untamed by powerful emotion. Mostly anger."

"Anger makes fire uncontrollable too."

"Anger is a powerful emotion. It leads to many other things. Violence, hatred, pain," Zelda said while taking another relaxing breath. "Now I think it is time for silence so we can better focus. While meditating, I make myself think nothing, feel nothing, hear nothing, and see nothing."

Prince Zuko nodded with his eyes still closed. The two sat in silence for some time, while Prince Zuko made the flames of the candles grow and shrink. Suddenly, he felt the pillows beside him move. He opened his eyes to see Princess Zelda was now levitating above her pillows. Turning his head, he asked Zelda, "Why do you do that?"

"It furthers the feeling of being in nothingness. Would you like to try?" Zelda asked smiling now with her eyes still closed.

"And how might I be able to try that?" he asked.

Princess Zelda waved her hand over his head while shimmering magic fell upon him and he felt like he weighed nothing as he lifted into the air still cross-legged. Prince Zuko looked around him as he rose into the air. He enjoyed the feeling more than he imagined he would. Freedom was the most prominent feeling. Princess Zelda saw him smiling as he watched himself rise off of the ground. Now levitating at the same level as Zelda, he looked over at her. She was watching him, smiling as she watched.

"What?" Zuko asked her roughly.

"It's so easy to tell when it's your first time levitating," she said laughing. "The ones that have never done it before always look so happy."

"I have to admit, this is very…interesting," Zuko said cracking a small smile.

Uncle Iroh stood at the door with it peaked open only a small amount. Just enough so that he could see what was going on in the room. He smiled to himself as he hatched a plan that would…hopefully…bring Prince Zuko and Princess Zelda closer together.

Uncle Iroh snuck into the room without a sound. The two teens wouldn't notice him because they were deep in meditation and had their eyes closed. Tiptoeing over to Zelda's left side, he still went unnoticed. Then he bent closer to Princess Zelda's levitating form.

"HELLO!" Iroh's voice boomed loudly into Princess Zelda's ear. Princess Zelda screamed, jumping backwards and Prince Zuko, still levitating cross-legged, turned his body so that he faced Uncle Iroh. Princess Zelda thought that she would hit the cold, metal floor. She closed her eyes awaiting the impact, but instead she landed on something warm and soft. Zelda opened her eyes to see Prince Zuko with his head tilted down looking at her. Zelda had landed in Prince Zuko's lap. Still levitating, Prince Zuko sat her up on his lap, so that her back was against his left arm with her legs stretched out over the right side of his lap.

"Uncle! You are not supposed to disturb me while in the meditating room! You know that!" Zuko said losing his temper.

"I just wanted to see if you kids were up to anything…interesting," Uncle Iroh said smirking.

"UNCLE!"

"Fine, fine. I'm leaving now," he said waving his hands in a way that says, "I surrender." Still smirking, he walked out of the room and closed the door.

After Uncle Iroh left, Prince Zuko looked down at Zelda, still in his lap, and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a little…surprised," she said holding her heart.

"And you said I used to scare easily," Prince Zuko said smirking at her.

Princess Zelda glared at him, but then smiled. Then she wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself up to hug him. Prince Zuko smiled, wrapping his arms around Zelda and pulling her even closer so that she was now up against his chest. Zelda laid her head on his chest and Zuko laid his head on hers. The two royals were still levitating and stayed in this position for what seemed like forever, which they both wanted to do. Then Prince Zuko put his feet on the ground, but still held on to Princess Zelda. He was holding her above the ground in his hug. Prince Zuko pulled Zelda away from him and set her down gently on the floor.

"Let's go to dinner," he said smiling down upon her.

Princess Zelda nodded, returning the smile. Prince Zuko walked toward the door, but stopped before he exited the door. Turning around, he held out his hand to Zelda, she gently put her hand in his and he closed his hand around hers. They walked together, hand in hand, to Prince Zuko's private dining chambers.

* * *

**kayko15**: I am so glad that you like the story! I love the Legend of Zelda which is why I put Princess Zelda in the story n.n


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Through the entire dinner Prince Zuko sat with his chin in his hand, thinking. Mostly he was thinking about how he would get Princess Zelda to tell him about the Avatar. He had gotten closer to Zelda since she had been on the ship. Zuko wanted to know the Avatar's weakness, what makes him vulnerable, and anything else that would be of importance. Looking over at Zelda, who was in a discussion with Uncle Iroh about their recent purchases at the port, he wondered if she would tell him anything. He highly doubted it. Princess Zelda is responsible, and would complete her duties in protecting the Avatar, by not telling him anything.

'I still should at least try,' he thought, now staring at nothing in particular.

Prince Zuko was unaware that Uncle Iroh and Zelda were now talking about him.

"Does he zone out like that often?" Zelda asked while trying to see what he was staring at.

"Only when he's deep in thought. Normally, he doesn't notice anything. Watch…" he said winking at Princess Zelda. "Prince Zuko would you like some tea?"

Zuko sat there still staring at something unknown, still oblivious to what was going on around him. "Prince Zuko, would you like some tea?" his Uncle repeated the question.

Never looking away from the same spot he had been staring at, he mumbled, "Hm? Oh… yeah, sure." Uncle Iroh looked at Princess Zelda and smiled again. She giggled silently, so Zuko wouldn't come out of his trance. Uncle Iroh whispered quietly, "I know how to get him out of his trance."

Pointing out the window, Iroh exclaimed, "Prince Zuko! Look! The Avatar!"

At this comment, Prince Zuko shot up out of his chair, eyes wide from being awoken so suddenly from his trance, and looked around at the window. Eyes scanning the skies, he shouted, "Where!"

Then Zuko heard something he hadn't expected to hear, Uncle Iroh was sitting behind him laughing heartily and Princess Zelda laughed as well.

"UNCLE!"

"What?"

"You said you saw the Avatar!" he shouted his hands beginning to become engulfed with flame.

"Well, I didn't. But, I had to get you out of your trance somehow," Uncle Iroh said smirking mischievously.

"Don't ever do that again!" Zuko roared, setting his chair aflame. Princess Zelda, stopped laughing then. She got up out of her chair and went over to Prince Zuko's flaming chair. Waving her hand over top of the chair, the flames turned golden and she lifted her hand up high, her hand open, and the flames lifted off the chair. She closed her hand into a fist and the golden flames died.

Then Zelda turned to Prince Zuko, smiling and placing her hand on his shoulder, and said, "Come on, Prince Zuko. Let's go back to the room so you can calm down."

Prince Zuko looked down at the hand she had placed on his shoulder. She had already calmed him just by putting her hand on his shoulder. Princess Zelda felt him become more relaxed under her touch. Uncle Iroh was still sitting there sipping his tea and watching the two royals, smirking. Looking over at Iroh, Prince Zuko glared when he saw that Iroh was smirking. Princess Zelda removed her hand from his shoulder as he turned to leave and Zelda followed him out the door. Prince Zuko was about to head down the corridor, but was stopped when Princess Zelda grabbed his arm and said, "Race you back to the room."

She smiled and began running down the hallway. Prince Zuko stood there for a second thinking how odd her actions were. She hardly acted like royalty when she was with him. Not liking to be beaten, Prince Zuko smiled and dashed down the hallway as fast as he could. He was gaining on her rapidly, because she was trying to run in a dress and pumps, which was extremely difficult. Zuko ran up beside her and smirked at her as he passed by with ease. Princess Zelda returned the smirk with a glare and attempted to pick up speed but failed. Prince Zuko sped past her and turned the corner that would lead to his room. Prince Zuko thought he would beat her for sure, but the he felt something touch his shoulders. He looked behind him and saw that it was Princess Zelda. She had a hand on each shoulder and put her weight on him as she jumped up and flipped over him, landing a couple feet in front of him, still running. Princess Zelda looked back at him and smirked. Zuko responded by picking up speed. He was right beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist and picking her up. Zuko ran to the end of the corridor and threw her down a corridor that went the wrong way. Zuko heard her exclaim, "Hey!" as he turned the corner. He saw his room. Prince Zuko was almost there when he saw a flash of green come out of the doorway to his room.

'That little cheater,' he thought. 'She used Farore's Wind.'

Sure enough, when he turned and entered his room he saw Princess Zelda sitting on the bed smirking widely. He glared at her and said, "You cheated. You used Farore's Wind."

"Well, you threw me down the wrong corridor," she replied.

Zuko thought for a second on what her punishment should be for cheating. He remembered how violently ticklish she used to be. When they were younger she would tickle her until she was actually crying from laughing so much.

'You are Prince of the Fire Nation! You don't tickle,' he thought to himself.

'It's just Zelda. I used to tickle her all of the time,' he thought, finally compromising with himself.

"Well, your punishment for cheating will be a violent tickling," Prince Zuko said walking slowly toward Zelda.

"Oh, no Zuko. Don't do it! You know how ticklish I am!" Princess Zelda said with a worried look on her face.

Prince Zuko was now standing above her. He lifted his hands and began the punishment by tickling her at her sides. She started laughing uncontrollably and screaming at the same time. After a little while, tears began running down her cheeks. Zuko stopped seeing that his punishment had taken the desired effect on her. Gasping for breath from laughing so much, Princess Zelda, still laying down on the edge of the bed, wiped the tears from her eyes.

Prince Zuko watched her in satisfaction, but then did something without even thinking about it. He bent low over Princess Zelda and pinned her arms to the bed with his hands.

Then he kissed her, full on the mouth.

Lifting his head up, he was smiling. Then he realized what he had just done. Shocked by his own actions, he went to go away from Zelda, but was stopped by Zelda when she grabbed his arm. He looked at her to see a smile had formed on her face. She slowly pulled him down toward her so that he was sitting on the bed. Wrapping her arms around his torso, she pulled him close to her and laid her head on his chest. Prince Zuko wrapped his arms around her and held her. But, it was not the normal, full embrace that he usually gave Zelda. There was something on his mind that was troubling him.

'Maybe she'll tell me something about the Avatar, now.'

"Princess Zelda…" Zuko said.

"…yes," she said with her eyes closed and head still on Zuko's chest.

"What is the Avatar like?" he asked cautiously.

Princess Zelda lifted her head and looked up into his eyes. She pulled herself out of the embrace and scooted over on the bed, away from Zuko. Prince Zuko instantly realized he had picked the wrong time to ask.

'Why couldn't you have waited? That was so stupid!' he mentally yelled at himself.

"He's a nice kid," she said smiling and remembering Aang. Prince Zuko was surprised that she had even said anything.

"That's it?" Zuko asked wanting more information now that he had gotten even that small morsel from Zelda. "No, weaknesses?"

Princess Zelda was now staring into Zuko's eyes with a blank, emotionless expression on her face. "Prince Zuko. Did you really expect me to tell you anything?" Zelda asked now smirking.

The only response Zelda got from Prince Zuko was a cold glare. She got up off the bed and walked toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Prince Zuko asked harshly.

"I don't think I am going anywhere. I **know** I am going to watch the sunset," Princess Zelda said as she stopped walking and turned to respond to Zuko. Then she turned to continue her trip to the deck to watch the sunset. Prince Zuko jumped up and grabbed her forearm tightly to stop her from going anywhere. Zelda tried to pull away, but failed in her attempts.

Zelda just stared into Zuko's eyes with a blank face. "Yes?" she asked smartly.

Prince Zuko grabbed her by her upper arms and slammed her against the wall by the door. Zelda didn't wince or even blink as she was slammed against the wall. Her feet dangled below her, Zuko pinned her against the wall so she was eye level with him.

"I give you hospitality and that is how you repay me!" he shouted, his eyes boring into hers. "I could've thrown you into a cell!"

Princess Zelda still didn't reveal her emotions and said, "I will tell you something about the Avatar, if you can answer one single question for me. Mind you, it has to be a good answer or I won't tell you anything."

Prince Zuko glared for a second, but then harshly said, "Fine."

"What is the purpose of this war? What will be gained from it?"

Prince Zuko opened his mouth for a second and then thought about it. He didn't know. Why were they fighting this war? What would any nation benefit from it? Her question had completely stumped him. Princess Zelda noticed that he couldn't think of a response and smirked at his confusion.

Zuko, being so stumped, didn't even remember that he had Zelda pinned against the wall, so he unknowingly let Zelda off the wall. Princess Zelda fell and landed on her feet.

"I asked you a question that I already know the answer to Prince Zuko," she said breaking Zuko from his thought. He turned and saw Princess Zelda smirking. He hated how she played these games. "I just wanted to see what your response would be."

"Nothing will be gained from this war. The purpose is simple to find. Ozai, your father, is power-hungry. Your people gain nothing from this war. Your father cares nothing for his people…or his family. He only cares about himself."

"You're wrong! My father has always had the best interest of the Fire Nation at heart!" he shouted not wanting to believe her words. But, deep down he knew she was right.

"Oh, so he does care about his people? Then why was he willing to sacrifice that regiment of soldiers you stood up for? Why does he continue a war that he will only benefit from? When there are men leaving their family behind and those men are dying because of Ozai's selfishness. Are you really willing to condemn the only one who can stop Ozai, the Avatar?"

"I must regain my honor!" he roared, becoming infuriated because he didn't want to believe her.

"When did you lose your honor Prince Zuko? Valuing life is not dishonorable. Protecting your people is not dishonorable. Your father is the dishonorable one. He is willing to risk the lives of people that believe he will lead them the right way. People trust in their rulers to lead well. You and I, we care for our people," Zelda said looking upon Prince Zuko as his hands began to glow. "Why not help to end this war? Why not help the Avatar on his journey? This world is doomed to ruin if the Avatar fails in defeating the Fire Lord. You can help him and when he overthrows Ozai, you can become the Fire Lord and restore peace to this world."

No, no, no! He didn't want to hear this. For the first time in his life, he hated Zelda. He hated how she was always right. He hated how calm she always was. But what if her words were true. He was so confused that it infuriated him. Nobody had called his actions against the general in the war chamber honorable before.

"What do you think, Prince Zuko?" she asked, backing away from him a little, seeing how infuriated he was becoming.

His body was starting to glow orange. Princess Zelda knew he wouldn't reply with words, he would reply with actions so before the angered Prince could unleash his rage, Zelda looked at him for a second and then turned and walked out of the room serenely.

Prince Zuko was stunned that she had walked out on him so suddenly. No one had ever walked out on him in the middle of a conversation. No one had ever walked out on him period. Other people seemed completely intimidated by him, but not Princess Zelda. Even grown men were more intimidated by him than she was. Zuko never saw fear in her eyes when he was losing his temper. The baffled Prince sat on the end of his bed, with his head in his hands, calming himself and thinking.

* * *

I am not sure about whether I should continue this fan fic. If I don't get many more reviews I might stop it all together, but I am not sure.

**kayko15:** I like Zelda because she can fend for herself too. Keep reading because I plan to have a fight scene between her and Zuko. I won't tell you who the winner is yet. >.>


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The two royals were now in bed, both bathed and changed into their pajamas. Although, they were lying much further apart than they normally did. Both were awake and thinking about what had just happened, but they were mostly thinking about what was said.

'My father is power hungry. There is no purpose to this war. But was what I did in the war chamber really honorable? I was just trying to protect my people. What is so dishonorable about that?' Prince Zuko thought to himself.

Then he thought about how Princess Zelda was never intimidated by him. He wondered why. He was much bigger than her and much physically stronger. Everyone else he knew was intimidated by his presence…but not her. He wanted to know so Zuko sat up in the bed, the blankets falling off of him to reveal his bare chest. He moved slowly closer to Zelda to see if she was awake. Zelda had her eyes close but she felt like she was being watched. So she opened her eyes and turned over to see Prince Zuko moving closer to her. Jumping a little, she sat up in her bed and used her magic to light the candle next to her side of the bed.

"Did you need something?" Zelda asked.

"I just wanted to ask you something," he replied.

"Alright. Ask away," Zelda said smiling at him and pulling her legs up close to her.

"Other people are intimidated or scared by me, but not you. Why?" he asked sheepishly.

"I don't know. I guess it's just because I know you," she replied.

"Well other people know me too, but they're still intimidated."

" I meant I know the real you. I know who you are underneath the anger. There's a lot more to you than many people see. Why do you want me to be intimidated?" she said smirking.

"I guess not."

"Good, because I don't do intimidated," she replied laughing. Prince Zuko replied with a smirk.

Then Zelda again put her hand on her leg, with the Triforce of Wisdom facing the ceiling. A light radiated from it once more and the Ocarnia of Time appeared in the light again. Prince Zuko was glad that she was going to play the song. It put him to peace and it was one of the few things that could. Princess Zelda again put the bluish-purple instrument to her lips and played the tranquil tune, "The Ballad of Hyrule." After the song was finished both of the royals moved closer together and cuddled while they drifted into a peaceful sleep.

A week later they were still traveling north and the temperature was dropping. Prince Zuko had been thinking of what Princess Zelda had said about his actions in the war chamber being honorable. He also thought about another thing Zelda had said.

"_Why not help to end this war? Why not help the Avatar on his journey?"_

This war was pointless. When his father was overthrown then he would be Fire Lord, helping the Avatar would be a wise decision wouldn't it?

Prince Zuko was out on the deck training. Princess Zelda and Iroh were sitting on the sidelines as usual. For the past week Zelda had been just sitting there watching Zuko training, bored. She wanted so badly to go out there and fight. Zelda loved to spar and she was very good at it too. Prince Zuko noticed the bored expression on her face. He held his hand up to the firebender he was training with, signaling that they were to stop for a bit. Prince Zuko, shirtless and wearing deep red pants, walked over to Princess Zelda. Princess Zelda looked up into his golden eyes as he stood over her, looking down at her.

"Would you like to spar with me?" Prince Zuko asked.

Princess Zelda jumped out of her chair as she exclaimed, "Yes!"

Zuko stood there for a second then asked, "Are you going to fight in your dress?"

"I could, but no. It's not very comfortable," she responded smiling. Then she lifted her hand and spun around with magical sparkles emitting from her hand. Her body began to glow golden and her appearance changed. She was wearing Sheik's tight, blue outfit with the white helmet made of thin strips of fabric. The outfit was so tight that it revealed every curve of her body. It even showed that Princess Zelda had six pack abs. Her nose and her mouth were hidden beneath the long white collar. Zelda's golden hair, that hid most of her eyes, looked much shorter only coming down to the top of the white collar. Prince Zuko thought for a moment and realized this was the disguise that she had described when she had told the story of how she fought his father.

"So this is that disguise…um, Sheik?" Prince Zuko asked staring down Princess Zelda. Princess Zelda looked up at him and took off the white helmet, as her hair fell down to its full length. Her normal golden headband was gone and so were her earrings. Zelda lifted her free hand and pulled down the collar so she could talk.

"No. This is the outfit I use for the disguise, but I am not disguised as Sheik right now. I'll show you Sheik," she said as she lifted her hand into the air and once again spun around with magic emitting from her hand. Her body glowed once more and she had turned into Sheik.

"This is Sheik," the disguised Zelda said. Prince Zuko was shocked by the voice that came out of her. It was a male voice. But then Zuko realized that her feminine features had turned masculine. She didn't have the curvy figure of a woman anymore. Sheik took of the helmet and revealed that her hair was its normal length, but her eyes were now red and her skin was much darker.

"Did you change yourself into a man!" Zuko asked shocked.

Sheik laughed, but then said with the new masculine voice, "I only changed the features you can see from feminine to masculine." This included her breasts.

"I would have never recognized you," Prince Zuko said circling Sheik and scanning her with his eyes at the same time.

"That's the entire point," Sheik said smirking. Then again she changed back into Zelda, but in Sheik's outfit. So her eyes had returned to the normal blue color and she had all of her feminine features back. She had her helmet back on so her hair looked short again.

"So what are the rules of this combat?" Zelda asked from under the white collar.

"No weapons," he said eyeing the sharp, metal encasings on her fingers.

"Oh, yes," she said lifting her hands to her eye level to show her fingers. Zelda turned to the table and lifted her hands. She sharply thrusted her finger tips into the wooden table and pulled her fingers out of the metal encasings, which now stood upright in the table. Then a chain appeared. It seemed to have come out of her sleeve, but she made it appear. She laid it on the table next to the standing metal tubes.

"What's that chain for?" Zuko asked eyeing the chain.

"I could hit people with it, but mostly for this," she said as she quickly turned around and then chain sprang to life and wrapped itself around Prince Zuko. Zuko glared at Zelda, but then noticed something that looked like lightning was dancing around the end of the chain that Zelda was holding. The lightning quickly sprang up the chain and shocked Zuko. After it shocked him the chain unwrapped itself and Princess Zelda tugged it quickly back to her. Then she sat it on the table.

She turned to see Prince Zuko glaring at her. Zelda laughed from under the long collar.

"What was that for?" he asked harshly.

"I don't know, because I wanted to," Zelda replied. "I need to warm up. I haven't fought in awhile."

Zelda then walked to the middle of the deck and she did a handstand. Then she bent her arms pushing herself up and down. Spreading her legs into a split, she pulled up one of her hands so now she was standing with one hand. She pulled her legs tightly together then pushed herself into the air and flipped landing delicately on her feet. Prince Zuko watched her with fascination. Her movements flowed and they were so quick and graceful. They didn't look powerful at all, but they moved so fast.

After, she was finished with her warm up Prince Zuko walked out in the middle of the deck to begin their battle. Uncle Iroh was to be the "referee."

"This is not a fight to the death. This is a fight until one of you pins the other," Uncle Iroh said as he lifted his hand. "Begin."

Uncle Iroh's hand fell. Zelda and Zuko were both in their fighting stances. Zelda's stance was low so her head nearly touched the ground. Zuko's was upright, but with his knees bent. Prince Zuko was the first to attack. He sent giant fireballs headed right toward Zelda. All Zelda did was walk to the side of all of the fireballs and spin out of the way. She jumped to avoid one fireball and landed gracefully bent into her fighting stance. It was her turn to attack. She did the same thing she had once done when her opponent was Ozai. Running extremely fast toward Zuko, she disappeared right in front of him.

Zuko at first thought she had used magic to disappear. His temper began to rise. Then from behind him, Uncle Iroh shouted, "Princess Zelda has not used her magic, Prince Zuko. She is so fast that you cannot see her."

Then Prince Zuko remembered what she had told him about the fight with Ozai. She really was too fast to see. He looked around trying to find some trace of her, but he couldn't.

"Prince Zuko," Zelda said. Zuko looked around to see where the voice came from, but he still couldn't see her.

"You cannot trust your eyes or your ears now," the invisible Zelda said. He tried to find the source of the voice, but he realized it was coming from all around him.

"You have to sense me, Prince Zuko. Sense the energy of my spirit. Sense the beating of my heart. You must zone out everything and everyone around you except for me. Focus on me."

Prince Zuko closed his eyes for a second. He sensed her, but where. "Found you," he said as he shot his eyes open and thrusted his fist into what seemed like air, but then Zelda had appeared. Zuko's fist had landed in her stomach and now her body curled over his fist as her eyes narrowed and shot open wide from the impact. Zelda stumbled back holding her stomach and fell into a sitting position. Then she looked up to see Zuko smirking.

"You have found my weakness, Prince Zuko. I am small and my body cannot take powerful blows, but I normally avoid that with my speed. Or by barraging my opponents with unending attacks," Zelda said breathing heavily trying to regain the air that was knocked out of her.

"Well your speed didn't work for me," he said smirking down at her.

"I normally don't tell my opponents how to find me," she said smirking beneath her collar.

Then she jumped up suddenly and thrusted her fists into his stomach and chest now. Prince Zuko was completely caught off guard. The single punches didn't hurt, but they came so rapidly and there were so many that they were very painful.

The barrage of punches ended as Zelda spun and kicked him in the chest, which sent him flying backward. He landed on his stomach and went to get up, but couldn't. Zelda was holding him down on the ground. She had his arms bound by holding both of his wrists with one hand behind his back. Her knee was in his back and she had her elbow in his neck. The only things Zuko could move were his legs. He squirmed underneath her hold, hoping to break free, but he couldn't. Uncle Iroh walked toward them and began to count.

"1.."

Zuko struggled even harder, but to no prevail.

"2.."

Zelda dug her knee deeper into Zuko's back and her elbow deeper into his neck.

"3…Princess Zelda wins."

"No! This fight is not over yet," Zelda said loudly. She bent her head beside Prince Zuko's ear.

"Prince Zuko, never give up. There is a way out of every situation, including this one. You have to be creative. Do something out of the ordinary. Think…" she whispered underneath the long, white collar into his ear.

What could he do?

'I can't do anything! What does she expect me to do! The only things I can move are my…" he thought to himself. He had finally thought of a way out. Princess Zelda saw him smirk to himself and knew that he had thought of a way out. She felt him shift underneath her hold. She looked behind her to see what he had done. One of his legs was lifted into the air with the bottom of his foot pointing directly at her. Then Zelda saw it begin to glow orange. A jet of fire shot out of it suddenly, but Zelda jumped out of the way and off of Zuko. The flame died and Zuko got to his feet, turning around and spotting Zelda in her fighting stance.

"Very good, Prince Zuko," she said from beneath the long, white collar.

"You speak as though you were my teacher, Princess Zelda," he said glaring at her.

"Well, you seem to be learning," she responded.

Prince Zuko glared at her and fired multiple blasts of fire directly at her. Instead of moving Zelda took the blasts head on, except she raised her hands, clenched into fists, right in front of the flaming projectiles. Once it was close to her hands the flames stopped. Then Zelda opened her hands and the flames turned golden. Zelda, in her tight, blue outfit, spread her arms out widely and the flames jumped onto her body, engulfing it completely. The flames then gathered at her forearms and at her feet and her lower legs, revealing that the rest of her body was completely unharmed.

Charging Prince Zuko with her fiery gauntlets and boots, she jumped out landing on her hands and flipped over with her legs tight together. She kicked Prince Zuko in the stomach with her golden, flaming feet. Prince Zuko noticed that it didn't burn, but it was much more powerful than normal. The kick sent him flying back many feet. Prince Zuko looked up trying to regain his lost breath and saw Zelda. She punched in Zuko's direction sending the golden flame toward him, followed by the rest of the flames that were on her body.

Zuko managed to dodge most of them, but one hit him in the head and knocked him backwards harshly. His head was pounding furiously. His vision became blurry for a second, but then cleared again. Zuko lifted his head slowly to see Zelda was standing over top of him with her foot on his chest and her hand, fingers pulled tightly together, at his throat.

Iroh ran over to the two and once again commenced the count, "1…"

"2…"

Zuko couldn't move. Everything hurt so badly. His stomach mostly because Zelda seemed to like attacking that area, but the blow on his head greatly added to the pain.

"3…Princess Zelda wins."

At that Zelda pulled her hand away from Zuko's throat and her foot off of his chest. She held out a helpful hand to the defeated Prince. For a second he glared at her, because he was just beaten by the little girl he's known for so long. Then he took it cracking a small smile, realizing that if he would be beaten by any "little girl," he was glad that it was Princess Zelda.

Once Zelda helped Zuko to his feet, she stepped back a step and bowed courteously.

"That was a very good duel, Prince Zuko," she said gratefully.

Prince Zuko followed her acts of courtesy and bowed back. Then he held out his hand and looked down into her partially hidden eyes and smirked. Zelda took his hand, but hadn't received what she expected. Prince Zuko pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her neck and lifted her off the ground. He pulled her into a headlock, just like when they were younger. She grabbed onto the arm that was holding her.

"Aww, come on Zuko…don't…be...such a sore loser," she said from underneath the long, white collar while trying to free herself.

Prince Zuko laughed and held on to her tightly. Zelda then swung her legs forward and grabbed Zuko's neck with her legs. Zuko let go as Zelda swung herself over top of him and had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Zelda was on his back and still off the ground as she held on to his neck. Zuko grabbed her arms and tried to wrench them off, but he couldn't. Zelda laughed, but she stopped because Zuko had finally wrenched her arms off of his neck. With an arm in each hand, he flung her over top of him and onto the ground. Zelda was soon off the ground and jumping on top of him and knocking him to the ground.

Uncle Iroh watched as the two royal teens wrestled each other. He smiled, because it reminded him of two young children long ago, when times where peaceful and carefree.

* * *

Sorry people if I worried you there. I decided to keep writing this fan fic. I wasn't sure if I would earlier, because I didn't know if it was that good. Except I might not be able to update so much, especially with school coming.

I hope you guys enjoyed the fight seen as much as I did. n.n


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